Carbon contents in Caatinga forest species

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to quantify the carbon contents in biomass reservoirs of different species in a Tropical Dry Forest located in Northeast, Brazil. We developed a previous floristic and phytosociological study and selected the nine highest absolute density (AD) species of the fragment, representing 87% of the fragment AD. We sampled the leaves and stem tissues of each species for carbon content determination. As result, the leaf C content differed between the species. The C leaf content ranged between 448.0 and 454.3 g C per kg of dry biomass. The C stem content varied between the species from 451.4 to 453.1 g C per kg of dry biomass. Our results suggest the use of a species-specific biomass-carbon conversion factor in Caatinga, as an alternative to the 50% factor recommended by the IPCC. This research reveals that the use of the factor recommended by the IPCC overestimates C stocks in Caatinga. Further studies are encouraged to confirm this result.

Keywords:
Carbon concentration; Carbon sequestration; Tropical Dry Forest; Leaf C content; Stem C content